Chapter 585 Questionnaire Survey
Regarding the question of Italian nationalists, Marshal Radetzki’s advice was, “It’s better to ask directly.”
Although it sounds a bit weird, it is still quite efficient.
Italian soldiers generally said that they were not familiar with the northern Italians, and as for the southern Italians, they were simply sworn enemies.
Of course they prefer to say those are Sardinians, Lombards, Venetians, Lucca, Parma, Modenese, Tuscans, Romans (Papal States), Neapolitans, Sicilians.
It seems that the propaganda of the Austrian Empire over the years has not been in vain. In fact, most of the troops are poor people who are not accepted by the local society. They naturally have no good impression of those who abandon them.
All Franz had to do was keep them winning and have money to buy drinks after the victory.
Relatively speaking, the Illyrians and Hungarians in Italy are a problem. This is not because they are deeply influenced by Great Hungarianism, but because these people have long been accustomed to doing things with money, and they have very different concepts of country and nation. light.
(Illyrians are the general name for Slovenes, Serbs, Croatians, and Montenegrins in the Austrian Empire.)
Only half of the troops stationed in Italy were Italians, and the remaining half were composed of Germans, Illyrians, Hungarians and Czechs.
This is also a feature of the Austrian Empire. The advantage is that it prevents a certain nation from becoming bigger and unable to stop it when a rebellion occurs.
But the disadvantage is that there are many hills inside the army, and the ethnic composition is complex and it is difficult to unified command.
A low-level officer who wants to effectively command his team needs to learn at least three or more foreign languages and spend a lot of time communicating.
Not to mention the issue of training. Compared to verbal communication, sticks and whips are extremely useful.
The "Handbook of Twenty Words Must Know on the Battlefield" has been promoted for nine years. In fact, during the Napoleonic Wars, Archduke Karl presided over this military reform. However, the reform failed in the later period and coupled with the opposition of the Hungarians, this reform It was covered in dust.
Franz proposed this reform again in 1836, and Count Latour, Minister of War, followed suit and continued it.
Today, "Must Know Twenty Words" has become "Must Know Fifty Words". In fact, there were "Must Know One Hundred Words" and "Must Know One Hundred and Twenty Words" in the middle, but it is too difficult for recruits. It’s complicated, so I can only give up.
Franz conducted several inspections and found that the sampling pass rate of the Italian Army's "Fifty Words You Must Know on the Battlefield" is over 90%, which is higher than the national average (60%. If the Hungarian Military District is excluded, the average can be close to 75%).
The sampling pass rate of "Must Know Twenty Words" is extremely close to 100%. They all know it and can hear it, but a few people can't spell it.
The military as a whole has no revolutionary tendencies and its combat effectiveness is adequate.
However, Franz flipped through the officer roster and couldn't help but gasped. The names of two great men, Fernand Lizzy and Alois Palfi, were clearly listed.
Fernand Rizzi was the ruthless man who later surrendered Venice to the rebels without firing a shot, and fled all the way from northern Italy to the beaches of Brussels, Belgium.
His life experience can be described as extremely glorious. He was captured twice and was severely wounded by the rebels many times. The Austrian army suffered huge losses in every battle in his hands.
Knowing the rebels' plan in advance, he led two full brigades to encircle and suppress the Carbonari rebels. The strength of both sides was 10,000 against 800.
As a result, almost all important figures including Garibaldi were released, 26 people were captured, and more than 100 enemy soldiers were killed, while their own losses were more than ten times that of the opponent.
Another heavyweight, Alois Palfi, was a real master of surrender. In the stormy year of 1848, he led three legions in Northern Italy, Bohemia, and Hungary, all with one shot. No hair.
What is even more incredible is that people within the Austrian Empire always believe that this man is a genius and will launch an attack.
Franz looked at Alois Palffy's resume. He was a typical young man. He entered the military academy at the age of eight and graduated at the age of twelve. He was proficient in all tactics such as artillery, cavalry, and infantry.
After graduation, he directly served as a lecturer at the Theresa Military Academy, the highest military academy in the Austrian Empire, responsible for teaching a series of important subjects such as campaign theory, war science, and artillery science.
The various medals, certificates, and honorary titles awarded at home and abroad can almost fill two pages. How can such a Long Aotian perform so well?
Franz later asked some professionals. Friedrich said that he was not familiar with this guy, and Archduke Karl's reply was unimpressive.
Albrecht said that the guy was an idiot and his course was a piece of shit, but of course it was fine if it was just a story.
Count Latour sent a copy of Franz Joseph's resume, and the latter roughly understood it after reading it.
Alois Palfi is completely a product of god-making, an artificial idol created by a large family at the expense of manpower and financial resources in order to promote its legal heir.
Franz was going to take the pair of sleeping dragons and phoenixes to Hungary and let them fend for themselves. If they could survive the desperate situation and explode the small universe to do something, they would be worthy of the wages they had received over the years.
If they die it can only be said to be bad luck and it will have no impact on the Austrian Empire.
However, they soon encountered the joint opposition of Prince Metternich and Count Korolaf in the Regent Council. In fact, it was impossible to know that there was no support behind this pair of sleeping dragons and phoenixes.
Moreover, in a land as sacred as Northern Italy, it is impossible for big shots not to come in and get involved. It seems that this plan can only be shelved temporarily, but Franz is not in a hurry. After all, he still has three years to do a lot.
The local gentry and nationalists in Lombardy were not all idiots. Some people analyzed that the Austrian Empire wanted them to kill each other, but they could not explain it clearly, let alone explain it.
So someone really took the risk and launched an attack on the Verona Fortress, but their caravan and death squads were intercepted before they saw the shadow of the Verona Fortress.
Franz still admires this kind of group that dares to openly assassinate, so they must be uprooted.
Most of the members of the so-called "Dras Brotherhood" were quickly captured through the joint efforts of many parties, in addition to their supporters, including several very influential local nobles.
The families behind these people sent envoys hoping to negotiate with the empire, but Franz didn't mind "killing the Nine Clans".
It was not unusual at that time for people to resort to beatings. After obtaining "strong evidence", the Lombardy regional government carried out a quick and thorough crackdown on those who dared to openly assassinate the royal family and commit treason.
Afterwards, nearly 3,000 people embarked on the ship to the colonies.